Your Investing Road Map

About Alison Griffiths

Alison Griffiths is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author and experienced broadcaster with a background in economics, investigative research and financial writing.

She has hosted the acclaimed television show Maxed Out for W Network and Dollars and Sense for Viva which dealt with all aspects of money from its impact on relationships to issues of debt and investing. For the past three years she has consulted with BMO in Canada and Harris Bank in Chicago about financial literacy for parents and children. She is also a board member with Credit Canada Debt Solutions, a national charitable debt counseling and financial literacy organization.

Alison writes popular syndicated columns for MSN Money and Metro Newspapers. She also blogs regularly for getsmarteraboutmoney.ca and is in demand as a speaker on money management.

Alison is author of the new bestseller, Count on Yourself: Take Charge of Your Money and co-author of 10 other books with David Cruise, which include The Portfolio Doctor: Your Prescription for Investment Health.

Alison and David’s groundbreaking exposé, Net Worth: Exploding the Myths of Pro Hockey earned international accolades for financial investigation and they co-wrote the CBC movie of the same name starring the late Al Waxman.

Alison and David’s bestselling first work of fiction, Vancouver: A Novel (2003) earned them a coveted Star Review in the U.S.-based Publishers Weekly.

Alison has received recognition from ACTRA, the Canadian Centre for Investigative Journalism, the Business Writing Awards, the Geminis, the National Magazine Awards Foundation Writing Awards, the Canadian Library Association, and the Robert W. Wagner Screenwriting Awards. She was also co-recipient of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy for 1999/2000.

A feature-length documentary (2008) by Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Zaritsky entitled Wild Horse Redemption, is based on Alison and David’s acclaimed, Wild Horse Annie & the Last of the Mustangs: The Life of Velma Johnston (Simon & Schuster 2010). A feature film is currently underway.

Alison has two daughters with David Cruise and one grandchild with another on the way. They live half the year on their farm in Ontario, Canada and the rest of the year on their farm in Florida with three horses and two dogs.

Many Canadians have ignored planning for retirement. A recent survey found that 30 percent of those already retired had gone back to work. Of that total, 33 percent admitted they haven’t saved enough while another 31 percent said the cost of living was higher than anticipated. ► MORE

The commodity sector, like technology, is massive and includes everything from solid and stolid blue chips to here-today-gone-tomorrow penny stocks. Within the sector you can find investors, traders and gamblers. ► MORE

It’s often said that money is the last taboo. We’re squeamish about personal financial matters, particularly debt, so it can be extremely difficult to confess past money sins. No one likes to appear ignorant or foolish while in the throes of a new relationship. ► MORE

From two ETFs available 20 years ago, there are now 340 of them offered by nine ETF providers with management fees as low as 0.05% annually compared to between 1.75% and 2.25% for many mutual funds. ► MORE